The 3DS Circle Pad Pro Arrives

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The awkward peripheral is shockingly useful.

By Richard George

When its existence first leaked through scans of Famitsu, I refused to believe the Circle Pad Pro, called the Slide Pad Expansion in Japan, existed. It looked bulky, awkward and took a tolerable portable design and made it far worse. I even wrote an editorial about how the peripheral's existence would mandate a relaunch of the 3DS. It was hard to fathom Nintendo would be willing to acknowledge a flaw of that magnitude in the 3DS, and that the publisher was willing to potentially fragment its user base to support such a device.

Then I had a chance to check out the Pro expansion. Surprisingly, it felt pretty good, mostly due to the fact that it didn't weigh nearly as much as I expected.

Recently I managed to import a Circle Pad Pro from Japan, which arrived today. I'm still unable to play a game with it (debug 3DS systems aren't always as physically small as retail units), but I was able to notice more details now that the device isn't chained to an innocent Japanese model.

Here are a few things you should know about the Circle Pad Pro, presented in handy bullet point form:

The device is just as awkward looking as you might expect. The good news, however, is that it's relatively light and actually feels moderately decent in your hands.

Gripping the expanded 3DS to play games is trickier. Your impulse is to rest the bottom of the expansion at the base of the palm of your hand. Depending on your hand size, this will force you to awkwardly angle your fingers to reach the L/R and ZL/ZR buttons. It hurts. It sucks. I ended up shifting the system higher in my hand, allowing for better access to the shoulder buttons.

Reaching the four face buttons (ABXY) isn't difficult but is slightly more cumbersome than it ought to be. The distance is just outside what I'd consider reasonable. Most genres won't be impacted by this, though I could see some more timing-based games impacted.

The 3DS fixes into the Pro shell simply through rubber grips along the inside of the cradle. There are no fasteners or clasps, though you shouldn't worry about the system being loose - it's a very, very snug fit.

The headphone jack is exposed, but the cart slot is not. If you want to change games, you'll have to remove the shell.

Infrared communication is used between the Pro and the 3DS itself. Not that this is a huge issue, but there you go.

One of the bigger issues I have with the Pro, aside from its ridiculous aesthetic, is that the feel of the two Circle Pads is different. The pad on your system does not have the same movement resistance that its counterpart has. I've tested a couple Pros now, and have seen the expansion-based device feel both more resistant and more fluid. It's hard to say if that was a result of frequent use or variation in manufacturing. Regardless, it's a bit annoying.

Rich is an Executive Editor of IGN.com and the leader of the IGN Nintendo team. Follow his ridiculous adventures through MyIGN and Twitter. Keep it cool, Koopalings.